Congo Ebola outbreak kills 31

The death toll from an outbreak of the Ebola virus in the
Djera region of northern Democratic Republic of Congo has
risen to 31, the government said, as the World Health
Organisation confirmed there was no link with an epidemic in
West Africa.

Previously, the government said there were 13 dead.

The separate outbreak in West Africa has killed more than
1,550 people since it was first reported in the forests of
southeastern Guinea in March.

The WHO said on Tuesday (local time) that the outbreak in
Congo was a "distinct and independent event, with no
relationship to the outbreak in West Africa". It added that
there were a total of 53 cases and said health care workers
were tracing 160 contacts.

The Zaire strain of the deadly virus is indigenous to Congo
and there have seven outbreaks in the country since it was
first discovered there in the remote Equateur province in
1976.

The first victim of the current Congo outbreak was a pregnant
woman who butchered a jungle animal in the village of
Ikanamongo and died on 11 August.